Since Professor Mahmood Yakubu quit as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), there is now a new leader in char...
Since Professor Mahmood Yakubu quit as Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), there is now a new leader in charge of Nigeria's elections.
Yakubu has been in charge since 2015, but he stepped down on Tuesday during a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners in Abuja. This marked the end of a time when major changes to the voting process and new technologies changed Nigeria's history.
He used Section 306 of the Constitution of 1999 to explain that he was stepping down so that the next person could take on the difficult job of running the country's elections without any problems.
Now that Mrs. May Agbamuche-Mbu is acting Chairman, all eyes are on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is likely to soon name someone to replace Yakubu. After the meeting of the National Council of State in Abuja on Thursday, the new head of INEC is expected to be made public.
Five well-known Nigerians are said to be in the running to replace Mahmood Yakubu.
1. Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan
It is said that Amupitan, who is currently the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration) at the University of Jos, is "favourite for the position" and could be named Yakubu's replacement.
Amupitan was born on April 25, 1967, in Aiyetoro-Gbede, Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State. He is a Professor of Law and has taught at the university for many years. His areas of expertise are Law of Evidence, Corporate Governance, Corporate Law, and Privatisation Law.
Prof. Amupitan has been a representative of the Faculty of Law on a number of boards at the University of Jos, head of the Public Law department, dean of the Faculty of Law, chairman of the Committee of Deans and Directors, member of the Governing Council at the University of Jos, and member of the Governing Councils of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies and the Council of Legal Education, among many other positions.
A lot of professional groups and organisations have made him a member, such as the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), the Nigeria Institute of Management (NIM), and the National Association of Law Teachers.
Professor Amupitan is interested in many different types of research. Some of these include creating the legal framework for the privatisation of public enterprises in Nigeria, changing the electoral laws in Nigeria, changing the privatisation law in Nigeria, and changing the laws that govern the petroleum industry in Nigeria.
His work has been published in more than 50 journals, book chapters, conference proceedings, monographs, case reviews, and research reports. He has also helped a number of national and foreign projects run smoothly.
2. Mohamed Abdullah Imam
Justice Abdullahi Mohammed Liman used to work for the Court of Appeal but is no longer there.
Reports say Liman was born in 1959 and became a lawyer in 1984. His home state is Nasarawa. He has been a judge for more than 25 years.
He has been involved in a number of high-profile cases, such as the one where he briefly stopped Sanusi Lamido Sanusi from becoming Emir of Kano again and the one where he stopped the suspension and arrest of former Kano governor Abdullahi Ganduje.
3. Lai Olurode
Prof. Lai Olurode is a professor and a first-class Sociology graduate from the University of Lagos (UNILAG) in Akoka, Lagos State.
He also went to UNILAG to study law and got an LL.B. in 1990. In 1991, he was admitted to the bar.
His first job at UNILAG was in 1980, and in 2000 he was made a professor of sociology. He was in charge of a department and the Dean of the Family of Social Sciences. He taught for more than 40 years before he retired. On June 30, 2010, he was named National Commissioner of the INEC and was put in charge of Oyo, Ogun, and Ekiti States.
4. Let Agbamuche-Mbu Win
Agbamuche-Mbu, who is acting head of the commission right now, is the only woman on the list of people who are said to be being considered to replace Mahmood Yakubu.
She has been a lawyer for more than thirty years and has worked with people in both the public and private sectors. She was born in Kano, northern Nigeria, but her family is from Delta State. She went to St. Louis Secondary School and then got her LLB in law from the University of Ife, which is now called Obafemi Awolowo University.
In 1985, she was called to the Nigerian Bar. She then went to the College of Law in London to further her education and became a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales. She also has two masters degrees in International Business Law and International Dispute Resolution. Her LLM is in Commercial and Corporate Law and is from Queen Mary and Westfield College in London.
May knows a lot about Alternative Dispute Resolution and is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK), Nigeria branch. She used to be the secretary for that group.
She was the only lawyer on the Presidential Projects Assessment Committee (PPAC) from March 2010 to November 2011. The PPAC looked at big unfinished public projects all over Nigeria. She was put on the Ministerial Committee in March 2016 that was in charge of writing "The Road Map for the Solid Minerals Sector." Before she became a National Commissioner at INEC, May was the Managing Partner of Norfolk Partners, a law company in Lagos. She was also the Editor of ThisDay Lawyer, a weekly legal section in one of Nigeria's most important newspapers.
If she is chosen, she will be the first woman to lead the panel.
5. Sam Olumekun
Olumekun, who is currently the National Commissioner of INEC and the Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, is also being considered for the open job. As of September 2022, he was a National Commissioner and led the Election and Party Monitoring Committee before taking on his present job.
During a meeting with the leadership of the Labour Party in Abuja in 2023, Olumekun was briefly called Acting INEC Chairman. This was while Yakubu was in The Gambia at the ECONEC (ECOWAS Network of Electoral Commissions) session.
Also, the next chairman of INEC will be chosen soon, and that will likely have an effect on both public trust and the preparations for the 2027 elections. On top of that, it might be the last big choice made by an institution before the election season really gets going. For now, everyone is still looking at President Tinubu while the country waits for the much-anticipated news.
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